Christmas already??

I cannot believe a whole year has gone by again!! Jeesh time flies!! 

Well, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with some great friends and now we are getting all geared up for Christmas!! My favorite holiday!  I have to be perfectly honest though, a part of me is a little sad inside.....this will be the first year I don't get to wake up to kids on Christmas morning :(  The harsh reality of divorce...sharing holidays...it sucks!! But I will be fine, and get through it just like I have gotten through anything else...by crying and pouting all day!!..haha JK!!  I'm sure I will head down to Utah and be with my family and friends! :)

Luvin the Christmas music, luvin the lights, luvin December!

2011.......BRING IT ON!!!

Thanksgiving dinner with friends

Jen and Michele

Gingerbread house!!

This kept Kayleigh busy for 2 hours!

Best hamburgers in Colorado...Cherry Cricket! 

(J dawgs bday dinner)

Dear Santa, 

I need a new door knob...

how about a prince charming to come fix my door knob...

I've lived with this for 4 yrs now! It's unfixable!

Cassidy wearing my pajamas, Jaydan in tie die and plaid shorts, 

me in broncos santa hat...we are total dorks for real!

GO BRONCOS!

SISTERS..best friends are we..my sisters times 3..

I recently took a much needed getaway to Arizona with my sisters! Nicole couldn't come though :(

It was nice to get out of this Colorado cold and go sit at the pool in 80 degree weather!  My sisters are my best friends and no matter what ups and downs each of us go through, we know we can always count on each other.

Love You Sisters....
Chel and Linds

Can't forget my bestest friend and twin...Nikki

Little Miss Pouty Pants!

Do you ever have those days where you are just pouty!! Everything gets to you that day, and you feel like you just want to complain to someone!? I totally had one of those days the other day! I woke up to kids bickering over cereal or something silly, then a client got really mad at me and hurt my feelings, and I just decided that my life was dumb.  I was letting everything affect me that day and I was acting like a total Debbie Downer pouty pants baby!! Luckily I have awesome people in my life who let me vent sometimes, and just patiently listen to me while I grumble, grumble, grrrr, grrrr, & murmur, murmur! (I know we all have these days and it's ok sometimes, as long as it's not everyday!!  Because then it just plain effects your life and who you are)
So on this particular day, my awesome friend told me to watch this video.  It was so great! Really made me feel like I wanted to try to have a better attitude everyday when I wake up! I am so grateful for the little things in my life! The pitter patter of little feet every morning, hearing about who Jaydan thinks is pretty at school, Cassidy skipping around the house all day without a care in the world!! I'm grateful I have friends who know the real me and still love me, and for family who just calls to say we are thinking about you.  For a home and a job, and health and for so, so so so much!! I hope you love this video as much as I do:)  Click on the you tube link below to watch!!

Let's all try a little harder to turn our frowns upside down!! Ok..Bye.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAjZ8mfoYw

Winterize your skin..beauty tips for glowing, healthy skin

 As if the skin on our face and body doesn’t have enough problems on a daily basis, the dry, cold climate that comes with the winter season can make it worse!  As the warm summer months leave us, your tan starts to wear off revealing dull, dry skin. Blah!

Try these tips and tricks to make your skin healthy, glowing and beautiful!

For girls and guys!

#1. Exfoliate, Exfoliate, Exfoliate!!

  The reason we need to exfoliate is because dead skin cells build up, build up and build up causing the skin to look ashy and dull.  We need to manually remove these dead skin cells to expose our fresh, healthy skin underneath.You can do this by getting a gentle facial scrub (do not use apricot scrubs from st. Ives) and using it once or twice a week in the shower.  You can also use an enzyme mask once a week which will eat away dead skin without the harsh scrubbing of a scrub.  You can get a facial cleanser with glycolic acid or a night cream with alpha hydroxy acids in it. (which will also prevent wrinkles)

(if you go to a spa or med office, or me, to receive chemical peels, now is the time to do a series of about 6 peels until spring)

#2 Mosturize!! 

Once you exfoliate and shed those dead skin cells, be sure to apply a hydrating moisturizer to heal dry, itchy, irritated skin. 

#3 Cleanse and Balance
A gentle cleanser will help to revitalize your skin while preventing impurities from clogging pores and causing breakouts. Use a gentle, alcohol-free facial cleanser in the evening. Unless you have persistent problems with acne, avoid ingredients like salicylic acid that may cause excessive drying or irritate the skin.

#4 Don't take hot showers, it dries out your skin. 


#5 Drink plenty of water! Coffee, tea, soda and alcohol dehydrate your body.  (If you drink more soda than you do water a day, you can bet you will have tired dull skin, your skin will age quicker and your teeth are taking a toll as well.) Just drink water!


#6 Protect your skin
everybody, and I mean everybody should be wearing a light sunscreen everyday! I won't even treat a clients skin unless I know they wear a daily sunscreen. It's not so much about wrinkles and leathery skin.  It's about melanoma, the number one cause of death with skin disease. (Don't get me started...)
If you are a sun bather and can't stand to look pale or can't stay away from the tanning salon, try to go a different route and sign up for spray tans instead.  If you still can't stay away, limit your tanning bed usage to once or twice a month.

#7 Home Care Products
Everyone should have one or two good quality home, skin care products on their bathroom counter (not oil of olay or dove) I recommend a good night treatment cream or a good daily moisturizer. The difference between an over the counter product like oil of olay vs a professional or medical grade product such as glymed plus (putting in a plug for my company) is that by law, the over the counter product can only penetrate the skin to a certain depth.  When you use a higher quality, the product penetrates deeper giving you better cell turnover and visible results quicker.  I love using night creams with alpha hydroxy acids or anything with peptides in it.


So, these are just some recommendations! I would love to hear what you all do to winterize your skin and your personal tips and tricks for healthy skin..and hair.  What products do you use and like? Any home remedies you use? Do you like spray tans or tanning beds? Let's get some feedback!
(And if you have any questions for me as an esthetician, regarding your skin, I will do my best to answer!)

Another season come and gone

Today was our last official football game of the season.  The Green Mountain Rams 5th grade team did awesome this year! We made it to the playoffs and the boys fought hard, but in the end that dang Highlands Ranch team took the victory and is heading to the Carnation Bowl. Oh well, there is always next year! Jaydan did amazing this season! He plays running back and outside linebacker and is one of the biggest kids on the team.  I am one proud momma when I see my son out there on that field! We did have one or two injuries this season, but nothing too serious.  Jaydan was in a leg brace for a couple weeks for dislocating his knee, and he was also diagnosed with asthma.  Nothing can stop this kid though.  I'm so proud of him. He is an amazing athlete, a great student and the best son a mom could ask for! 

(I tried to get some video, but missed his touchdowns)

just a side note...

Well, it seems that one or two of my posts have gotten a little more attention recently.  First of all, I just want to say that I appreciate every single opinion and comment from everyone! A blog would be boring if no one else added their input right? Most of the time I get great input, and sometimes I get bad input.  Today it's been from people I don't even know and has been a little hurtful. Quite a few personal messages today.

I just want to clarify that my recent post was not about eating disorders and I was not down playing the seriousness of that topic. I apologize if it came off that way and thank you for bringing it to my attention.  Also, it was not my intention to make this last post seem as if women (or me) NEED to hear compliments to feel beautiful. Most of us don't need it, we like it.
I teach my daughters everyday that they are daughters of God and He will always love us for who we are no matter what.  It absolutely does not matter how many people tell you how amazing and pretty you are or how many compliments you receive, if you do not have the affirmation in your heart that you are a daughter of God or feel happy with who you are, then you're right, a compliment will only last for a moment and then be forgotten about.
 When I write my blog posts, sometimes I am writing what I happen to be feeling at that moment.  I 100% believe that compliments, especially from the person we love, are food for our soul.  Kind of goes back to the book, The Five Love Languages.  One of my love languages happens to be words of affirmation.  I like to be told.
Sometimes we know we are daughters of God.  Sometimes we have  had God witness his love for us and we are so happy with who we are on the inside and out...but even so..sometimes the little girl in us just wants the man we adore and love to whisper in our ear and tell us we are the most beautiful woman in the world.

Thank you for your comments and for being interested in my posts and my crazy little life!!  Now, I am going to get back to eating my children's Halloween candy and folding laundry.  Have a wonderful night!
Michele

"I can live for two months on a good compliment." Mark Twain

The Girl in the Mirror

Inside this smart, secure woman, lives a little girl who deeply needs to know she is beautiful.

The Ugly Truth About Female Beauty in Our World

"Daddy watch!" she calls as she twirls around the living room in her dress. "Daddy, look at me! Do you think I'm pretty?"  Pink and twirly matters a lot when you are five.  

So then why at age 31, this hardworking, secure, grown-up mom is still (silently) asking the same question: "Do you think I'm pretty?

Am I smart and amazing?" I ask this question a lot. And I know I'm not the only one because I talk to a lot of girls who feel the same way. The little girl inside still wants to know "am I beautiful?"

I think in a culture where women are bombarded with expectations to lose weight, look younger, look sexy, actually, look perfect, that question has killer consequences.  I have personally seen first hand the effects on woman who do not feel beautiful inside or out. I think you would be surprised to hear that the rise in eating disorders today is not with teenage girls.  It is with the middle aged moms and wives. The middle aged mom who on the outside has it all together, but on the inside does not feel beautiful. I have a few close friends who are suffering from this. It's really hard for me to watch someone close to me, who I think is gorgeous, harm their body to make it look better.  And I know eating disorders can be derived from several different issues, but for my friends who I have discussed this with, it is because they just don't feel pretty enough.

Everyday we are faced with these images around us of how we are supposed to look. You know, the perfect Hollywood body.  That's beautiful right? If only we looked like her we would be happy right? 

I am totally at fault for having those feelings. Especially since I've had children. My body ain't like it used to be! (sniffle). I'm so imperfect. My body is flawed and has major battle scars (ok some stretch marks) from my beautiful babies. 

Well who cares!! Ok who am I kidding..I totally care! That's the thing. All women care to a point.  I think the trick is learning to not care so much. I know that for me, it's not just feeling beautiful..it's feeling beautiful to him.  Whether that was my husband or now in my life, a boyfriend or someone I really like. I just want to know that I, and all of my imperfections, are beautiful to him. 

To the Guys

If guys could know one thing about us woman, this is what they should know...

"You're not just the guy who shares our space, you're our most important mirror. You're the man who can  reflect back to us how beautiful you think we are.  You're the man whose opinions of us are the best cure for the worldly pressures that stalk our thoughts. So even if it's not in your nature to say it very often, we need to hear specific, honest compliments and especially being told we are beautiful."

 (And girls..FYI, guys want the same thing)

It's about learning to love what we see in the mirror. Our real beauty. Not the size of pants we wear. 

Embrace the hot momma you are!

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